| Abstract [eng] |
Socially Engaged Vietnam Buddhism and Liberation Theology in the Philippines: a Comparative, Postcolonial Perspective The aim of this Master thesis is to reveal the relationship between religion and politics in the postcolonial perspective, highlighting a difficult transformation of colonial Vietnamese and Filipinos societies to the independent nation states, where socially engaged Buddhism and liberation theology became influential phenomena. Despite the collapse of the colonial systems in Indochina and the Philippines, the representation of colonial interests continued through repressive regimes in Vietnam and Philippines. These regimes have caused public dissatisfaction with authoritarian leaders, especially Ngo Dinh Diem in Vietnam and Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines. Society understood the need of social change, which became impossible during authoritarian rule. Despite the fragmentation in both – Vietnamese and Filipinos – societies, socially engaged Buddhism and liberation theology started to be seen as an opportunity, which allow people to achieve the goal of social justice and fulfill the needs of citizens’. Basically, those religious phenomenon enabled subaltern to “speak” in any way by any means. This Master thesis is based on the theories of postcolonial discourse and mainly focuses on Franz Fanon, Homi K. Bhabha and Gayatri Ch. Spivak, who made a big influence on postcolonial literature. The development and resistance of religious communities and lay people in Vietnam and Philippines were analyzed through vital concepts of postcolonialism. “Hybidity”, “ambivalence” and “self-consciousness” explain the changes of national elite and its identity as well as giving a reason why it transformed into a new colonial power. “Mimicry” describes why the imitation of colonialism usually fails and how socially engaged Buddhism and liberation theology became those powers that precisely fulfilled the needs of the nation. Also postcolonial perspective cannot be explained without “subaltern”, which got a chance to “speak” while acting through the discourse of elite. |
